


(It's Hard) Letting You Go

by GenitalGrievous



Series: These Days [5]
Category: Speed Racer (2008)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-11
Updated: 2010-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-16 22:15:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1363657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenitalGrievous/pseuds/GenitalGrievous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Racer X can't let go so easily. Taejo checks in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(It's Hard) Letting You Go

Detector rolled over and grabbed the chintzy alarm clock from the bedside table and brought it close to his face to read the time. 7:43. Another hand reached out from the tangle of comforters and sheets and knocked the clock from his grasp. The same arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him back into the bed with a small amount of force. Taylor chuckled from the cocoon of bedding as his sleep-warmed naked body pressed against Detector.  
“Think not of the time this morning, mon chere.” Taylor said with a chuckle and kissed Detector’s shoulder.  
Detector smiled and turned over to face Taylor, his face flushed from the combined heat of the two men under the comforters. “We have to go to the trial today.”  
“No.” Taylor burrowed deeper into the comforters, still clutching Detector against his body.  
“Yessss,” Detector chucked, trying to break free. “We’ve missed an afternoon already.”  
“They never need us,” Taylor said, rubbing his body against Detector’s. “Why waste our time when there is so much better to do?”  
“You know as well as I that this trial is pivotal to both our futures.” Detector warned.  
Taylor groaned, “I know, I know. A man can dream, can he not?”  
“I’ll go back to my room to shower,” Detector made to stand up, but was still hampered by Taylor’s grasp.  
“Oh, darling. Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Taylor pulled Detector down into a warm kiss, and smiled against his lips.  
“Shall we meet for breakfast?” Detector asked, sorting through a pile of clothes to find his underwear.  
“Sounds like a fine plan.” Taylor smiled appreciatively as Detector bent over to pick up his pants.

X reached over to turn off his alarm clock slowly. The room was strikingly cold, he had turned off the heater to conserve the electricity bill. Outside of racing season he often saw months between pay checks, and though he had a fairly large savings set aside, he feared some unknown emergency catching him off guard. Without Detector’s CIB income, he hardly had an adequate safety net.  
The night before Speed had not stayed for long. It was a smiling charming Speed who had met X at the door, and while he didn’t have a chance to say what it was he had been intending to, he had begun to feel that it was unnecessary. Speed has a lot of pain built up, and he’s bound to have to lash out every now and then. That must have resulted in the other night. X would, henceforth, have to try to react to Speeds minor transgressions mildly, Speed who had tried to end his own life not two months prior.  
X leaned back and sighed, staring at the ceiling. Ultimately he had slept very little. His lack of sleep was less due to actual thinking (he had recognized very few ways to even come close to meeting the challenges he was facing, aside from letting them happen) and more due to the mood that was created by Speed’s behaviour, and Taejo’s confession. As it had stood, only one person knew the true identity of Racer X, all of the CIB agents, the race fixers, plants and shills, no one X had ever worked with had been let in on his secret. In a small way he felt a weight lessened on his conscience, but in the same way he was burdened with the fear of having one more mind privy to his confidence. X pushed the comforter away and sat up, resting his feel flat of the carpet and staring at a small stain between them.   
He had tried, at the beginning of the night, to find a word for the mood that he was sensing. As he stared into the dime-size discolouration he recognized the ideal word, and the realization shook him more than a little: Regret.

Detector stepped into the shower and turned the water on over his head. As the water rinsed away leftover sweat from the night before, Detector could feel himself moving towards a mental clarity. He thought of X, and felt a tug at his conscience. The night that he had left X was still painfully clear in his mind, and yet--while the images of the events were present in clarity, his exact emotions he couldn’t began to fathom. He somehow wished that the evening had been more rife with emotion. If X had made him cry, then he wouldn’t feel quite the way he does now. Leaving X sitting in his car with puppy-dog tears in his eyes and fucking his racing rival two days later made Detector feel like he had wound up in the wrong during the break up. His actions, if he thought about them honestly, hardly qualified as “breaking even,” and he couldn’t ignore that he had been deliberately ignoring his own emotions during the past few days.  
He had to admit that he very much enjoyed the time he was spending with Jack Taylor, and yet he found himself wondering if he was subconsciously trying to get back at X using his rival. He washed his face roughly with the hotel-provided washcloth and rinsed the cheap soap away.   
“It’s hard.” Detector mused out loud, switching off the water briskly. “Somehow with each passing day it gets harder and harder.”

X was standing on his bath mat roughly drying his hair with a ratty towel when the doorbell rang. He paused and looked up, trying to remember what time it was, and concluded that it must be a reasonable time for an unexpected visitor. He dried his chest quickly and wrapped the towel around his hips, and paused to survey himself in the mirror. “Not particularly uninviting,” he thought, hoping that it wasn’t a religious solicitor.  
It was Taejo who was waiting on the other side of the door, his hair pulled back into a tight ponytail that hung against his tight black shirt. X paused remembering Taejo’s fear of Speed knowing the two of them were talking from the day before.  
“Speed asked me to come.” Taejo said cautiously, “He feels that you’re becoming distant.”  
X coughed awkwardly. “Please, sit down.” he indicated the couch and stepped into the bedroom, “I’ll be right back.”   
In the bedroom X hurriedly pulled on a pair of jeans and a white undershirt. He ran his hand through his hair and looked at the mess of clothes scattered around the floor disdainfully. He had fallen into bachelor-style living quickly. In the living room he found Taejo crossing and uncrossing his legs, his face pale.  
“Sorry.” X mumbled, “I just stepped out of the shower.”  
Taejo coughed as X sat next to him on the couch. The gash on his cheek was healing slowly, X noted. “How are you doing?”  
X grimaced. “Well, I suppose. It’s been a rough week.”  
“I understand.” Taejo said slowly, allowing a silence to come between them.  
X looked out the window at the gathering storm-grey clouds in the sky and felt a welling despair. He could hardly comprehend what he had gotten himself into, but he knew that he had been in similar situations. Speed was manipulative, he tried to remind himself, despite his smiles and his innocent appearance.   
Taejo sighed audibly and looked at X apologetically. “I’m supposed to--find out how you feel.” He coughed.  
“It wasn’t this hard in the beginning,” X began, and ran his hand through his damp hair. “Somehow--I can’t seem to let him go.”  
“The Inspector, you mean?”  
“Yes.”  
“Have you--” Taejo stopped and blushed.  
“Have I what?”  
“It’s not my place.” Taejo shook his head. “I think there’s a lot that you and Mr. Detector need to discuss.”  
“I have no doubt of--” X stopped mid-sentence, “What?”  
Taejo sighed. “It is not my place. I am here on behalf of Speed Racer only.”  
“So you say,” X grumbled. “But I doubt my relationship with Speed is your business, either.”  
“Speed made it my business.” Taejo said confidently. “Racer X--You’re playing a dangerous game right now, and I want you to know that.”  
X looked up and met Taejo’s eyes. Taejo sighed. “The Inspector has been seeing another man, or so the rumours in the WRL are going.”   
“With who!?” X demanded, his face flushed.  
Taejo looked away. “He has been seen with Jack Taylor several times in the last few days.”  
“Well, that would make sense. They’ve been working on the Royalton case together.” X sighed, relieved. He wasn’t sure yet, if he could handle the thought of his first lover with another man. He could admit to himself that this was rather selfish, but it didn’t change his feeling.   
“Hmm.” Taejo mused, his brows furrowed.   
“He’s never been particularly fond of Jack Taylor, but they’ve frequently had to work together during the course of the trial. He--kept me posted.”  
Taejo coughed into his fist. “But I still need to know about how you’re doing.”  
“I’m working through it. I miss him, there are so many little things that I miss. I miss rolling over at night and being reassured by his presence in the bed, I miss coming home to him, I miss holding him I--” X tightened his jaw, feeling a constriction near his sternum. He inhaled and exhaled deeply in turn.  
Taejo smiled wistfully. “You mean you still love him?”  
“How could I stop?”  
“And Speed?”  
“Speed? I--” X hesitated, his stomach rolled gently, “--I love Speed, too.”  
“Is it the same sort of love?”  
“No.” X admitted. “It’s not.”

As Detector rummaged through the duffel bag he had brought from his apartment for a pair of clean boxers there was a sharp rap at his hotel door. He straightened up and tightened the towel wrapped around his waist. He made sure the chain was clicked in place, and opened the door. Taylor smirked from the other side as Detector hurriedly undid the chain and let the other man in.  
“You take so long.” Taylor laughed as he followed Detector in, looking the half-naked man up and down appreciatively.   
Detector sat down on the bed and groaned.  
“What?”  
“I have to go to my apartment.”  
Taylor paused. “You what?”  
“I didn’t take enough clothes. I have to go back.” Detector groaned and buried his face in his hands, curving his back as a leaned over.  
“Then let’s go.”  
Detector looked up, his shower-moistened hair sticking up oddly. “What?”  
“I’ll be your escort, we can go get your things.” Taylor punctuated the end of his sentence with a confident nod.  
Detector bit his lip and fiddled with the end of the towel. “Racer X will be there.”  
“That much was assumed.”  
Feeling his eyes begin to sting, Detector bit his lip and tightened his jaw. “Hey.” Taylor said, and reached his arm around Detector’s shoulders, pulling him against his chest. “It’s going to be fine.”  
Detector was reminded of an incident from his youth. He had walked into his mother’s bedroom, and found her on the phone with his paternal uncle crying. His father had been in a rehabilitation clinic for alcohol dependency. As she hung up the phone, she turned and saw him standing in the doorway, her mascara was running tiny rivulets through the makeup on her cheeks. “What am I going to do?” She asked him, and for a moment he had felt the overpowering desire to run, he had never seen his mother cry before. But he stepped forward, and he sat next to her on the bed and held her in his arms. “God has a plan,” he said, knowing that he was lying, knowing that he had stopped believing in God at fifteen years old, but all the while knowing that it was exactly what his mother needed to hear.  
Detector smiled at Taylor through the tears that were crowding his eyes. He wanted to say “thank you,” but his throat was so constricted he couldn’t quite say the words. As he tried to form the words, he felt a floodgate lift somewhere deep inside, and he began to openly weep against Taylor’s shoulder.   
Taylor inhaled deeply, his chest lifting against Detector’s face. “I think we’re going to have to take a personal day for the trial, today.” With a race-worn hand Taylor smoothed the hair away from Detector’s forehead. 

X bid Taejo goodbye at the door. He hadn’t told him much in the end, the whole experience left him uneasy. As Taejo turned to leave, however, he leaned over as though to brush a small amount of dust off of X’s shoulder. “Next time I will bring you something that will help with the pain.”  
As he shut the door, X was left to wonder exactly what Taejo had meant. He didn’t have long, though, before the phone rang. He picked the cordless phone off of the sideboard by the door and heard a familiar voice on the other end.  
“I--” X began, but the voice interrupted him.  
“I’m going to come to the apartment to pick up some of my things today. Not a lot, not all of them, just some more clothes and the like.”  
“Look, I--” X tried again.  
“I’ll be there around four o’ clock.” The line went dead.  
X swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. He tried to will the tears away, but they came in droves, and soaked into the collar of his t-shirt.   
“Anything but easy.” X choked out.

Detector snapped his cell phone shut and looked up to Taylor, who was watching him with searching eyes. “Should you have done anything that we’ve done in the last day and a half?” Taylor asked wearily.   
“I don’t know what I’m doing with myself right now.” Detector conceded, his shoulder’s sagging.   
“Can we start from the beginning? What just happened between you and Racer X?”  
Detector sat down beside Taylor resignedly and heaved a sigh. “Racer X was--well--having an affair, as it were, with Speed Racer.”  
“Really?” Taylor cocked his eyebrow.  
“There’s--There’s so much involved in the story that I cannot reveal to you, but--That family--” Detector trailed away for a moment. “I had sensed it for a long time, but I outright asked him a couple nights ago. And then I checked into this hotel.”  
Taylor licked his lips cautiously. “How long had you two been seeing each other?”  
Massaging the bridge of his nose, Detector closed his eyes, “Nine years, give or take.”  
“Christ.” Taylor looked away from Detector and scanned the room. He licked his lips again, trying to create a verbal response. “I don’t know why, it‘s probably a bad idea--But I’m going to be here for you.”  
Taylor returned his eyes to Detector, his gaze steady. Detector exhaled strongly. “I never meant for you to see me like that.”   
“But I did.”  
“But you did.” Detector stared at the floor between his feet.  
Taylor opened his mouth to reply, but stopped. He wrapped his arm around Detector’s shoulder, and the two men sat embroiled in an awkward silence. Detector shifted gently against Taylor’s arm, his brow knit in consternation. 

X was pacing around the bedroom, his mind a muddled mess of images of his past. He had gone into the room with intent to pack some of Detector’s belongings for him, to make his necessary visit shorter, but was struck with no idea of how to go about it. When he opened up the closet door, Detector’s starched dress shirts hung limply from their wire hangers, lifeless shadows of their owner. X gently lifted the arm of one shirt by the cuff, and let it fall to rest against the side of the shirt. He sighed. He didn’t know where to begin, and he felt a small amount of fear that eventually all of these shirts, the coats and jackets and slacks, all of the shadows would eventually leave the apartment. That he would be bereft of any physical remembrance of his lover.   
He didn’t want to let them go. He wanted Speed, but he also wanted Detector. He craved Detector’s abilities to calm him, Detector’s matronly attitudes and condolences. More than anything, he needed Detector’s innate skill to understand his desires, to seemingly read his mind and produce options. He had taken so much for granted, X mused.

In the parking lot downstairs Taylor was holding Detector against his shoulder firmly, letting the other man “cry it out” as he had said. Detector’s shoulders were shaking violently, his voice choking out sobs against Taylor’s tear-stained sports jacket. Taylor gently ran his hand through Detector’s mussed hair, and kissed the top of his head. Privately Taylor found himself wondering how exactly he had wound up where he was in this moment, and why he had made the series of choices he did that had led to him comforting a CIB agent in the parking lot of his greatest racing rival. He watched cars passing by the parking lot along the street, his brows knit together.  
Detector breathed deeply and looked up at Taylor, his cheeks flushed. “Traurig.” He closed his eyes, his voice barely above a whisper. “Ich weiss nicht was mir geschah.” Detector didn’t realized he had lapsed into his native language.  
“Es war keine ausgabe.” Taylor smiled and kissed a confused Detector on the forehead. “You were speaking in German.”  
“Was I really?” Detector chuckled nervously, “I--”  
“You’re nervous.” Taylor opened his car door, smiling. “Everything is going to be fine, let’s go.”

X looked up from the floor as the apartment’s doorbell went off. He felt his cheeks get cold, and his stomach turned strongly. Each step towards the door increased a feeling that he was watching his body move across the apartment from somewhere else, that whatever force was propelling his body onward did not come from within his mentality.   
The door opened, and the shock of seeing Detector pulled his mind state back into his body with great force. He looked healthy, but sad. His lips were pulled tight, his chin tucked down slightly giving the appearance of submission. X opened and closed his mouth, he felt his eyes water up as Detector tried to speak.  
“Look--”  
“I--”  
Both men became silent again, X looked up at the ceiling, his throat tight. Detector rubbed his palms together, his shoulders hanging loosely.   
“I just--need some clothes, and--” Detector made unsteady eye contact with X.  
“What am I doing?” X asked, his hoarse voice barely audible.  
Detector bit his lip, “Letting me go.” Taylor gently rubbed the small of his back from behind the door, where X had not yet noticed him.   
“It’s hard,” X choked. “It’s hard to let you go like this.”  
“You made the choice.” Detector said, closing his eyes briefly. “It was your choice.”  
X stepped aside, to let Detector in the apartment. He inhaled sharply as Taylor followed him in slowly, avoiding eye contact.  
“He’s here as a friend, X.” Detector smiled minutely, “He will not betray any secrets.”  
“Then--You two--” X clenched his jaw.  
“He has given me friendship, and support.” Detector turned his sad eyes towards Taylor, who tried to smile. “When I had none.”  
“I didn’t believe it when I heard.”  
“Heard from who?” Detector looked away from Taylor, towards X.   
“Taejo.”  
“How did--”  
“You were seen at lunch together.”  
“Ah.” Detector cast his eyes downwards.  
X tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “I wanted to pack your things for you, but--I didn’t know where to start.”  
Detector walked past X into the bedroom. One of his larger suitcases was sitting on the bed, the closet opened to reveal rows of dress shirts and suits. Even staring at his own belongings, Detector found himself unsure of where to begin. Taylor slipped his hand into Detector’s and leaned close to his ear, “It’s okay.” Detector smiled weakly.   
Stiffly, Detector opened the top dresser drawer and removed his underwear in two large handfuls which he deposited unceremoniously into the suitcase. Taylor lovingly scooped up the socks and gently added them beside the pile of underwear, and offered Detector another smile. “I need to make this quick.” Detector whispered.  
“I know.” Taylor walked to the closed and took several dress shirts, hangers and all, and folded them in half before pushed them into the suitcase. “We’ll rehang them at the hotel.” He grabbed another round of shirts and did them same thing, checking Detector’s face for signs of consent.   
Detector could feel his shoulders tensing as he took several pairs of pants down from the closet. He closed his eyes briefly and concentrated on breathing. He couldn’t help but recognize that he was removing his presence from the apartment, effectively he was giving the apartment to X. Taylor sensed Detector’s hesitation and wrapped his arms around Detector’s shoulders, planting a small kiss at the base of his skull. “Hey now,” Taylor rocked back and forth gently, loosening Detector’s body with the fluid movement. “Everything is going to be just fine.” Detector clenched his jaw, screwing his eyes shut tighter, “Tonight I’m going to take you out to dinner, and everything is going to be just fine.” Detector nodded, but Taylor could see that he was trying to hold back tears. X appeared in the doorway, and watched the two men for a moment, and then walked away towards the living room.   
Detector inhaled and exhaled strongly. “Thank you. I’m--I’m going to be alright. I think.” He opened his eyes and smiled slightly as Taylor kissed him again on the side of his neck.  
“This couldn’t be anything but hard, but I’m still here for you.” Taylor gave Detector’s shoulders a quick shake, “Let’s get this done.”  
Detector nodded, and broke loose from Taylor’s grasp to place the pants in his suitcase. “Thank you.” He smiled, and the smile reached his eyes.  
Taylor returned the smile, and brought a stack of sports jackets to the suitcase. He paused, and watched as Detector went to the dresser, and removed a stack of primarily white shirts, along with a pair of jeans and a pair of khaki pants to place in the almost full suitcase. “I think that’s everything for clothes.” Detector looked up to Taylor’s eyes and smiled.   
“I’ll take this to the car, then.” Taylor closed the suitcase and brought it to the floor to wheel it out of the bedroom. As he passed X they made silent eye contact. In X’s still face, Taylor could sense both his dislike and confusion concerning what he had seen. Taylor nodded carefully, and let himself out of the apartment. X walked to the door and switched the deadbolt quietly.  
In the bedroom Detector was giving the closet and drawers a once over, to ensure that anything left behind would not become necessary in the near future. He knew that he would have to return to the apartment at least one time, during the final moving out. Detector looked up from the dresser as the door creaked open, and found himself face-to-face with X.  
“Look--” Detector began, but was interrupted when X grabbed him in a tight grasp.  
“I know that this is my fault, and I deserve everything but--” X leaned his head against Detector’s, his tears moistening the older man’s hair, “--I love you, you need to know that. I love you so much.”   
“And yet you chose Speed.” Detector said softly, his voice tight.  
X pulled away slightly, holding Detector’s head between his hands. Detector’s eyebrows were knit together, his mouth turned down in a grimace. X leaned back in and kissed Detector, his lips hot and soft from crying. Detector tightened his jaw against the kiss at first. X kissed him on the side of the mouth, the tip of his nose, and either cheek, before returning to his lips, catching Detector off guard and slipping his tongue into his mouth.  
Detector felt his knees go weak, his head felt light. X wrapped his arms around Detector’s waist, deepening the kiss as he pushed Detector down onto the bed. Detector pushed against X, trying to remain neutral even when he could feel heat building up in his body.  
“Xssss--No.” He whispered against the other man’s lips, his voice thick.  
“I love you.” X insisted, kissing along Detector’s jugular.   
“You--have--” Detector tried to push away, but froze when his thigh butted against X’s erection, “Y-you have--to let me go.”  
“I can’t.” X said, his voice cracking slightly as more tears leaked down his cheeks, “It’s too hard.”  
“Rex.” Detector said softly, smoothing back X’s hair with the palm of his hand. “Shhhh, I know. I wish I could say it was going to be easy for either of us, but it’s not.”  
“I can’t go on like this!” X buried his face against Detector’s shoulder.  
“Come on, now.” Detector tried to push X off, but X out-muscled Detector by far.   
X ran his hand down Detector’s side until it reached his belt. He pulled Detector’s shirttail out of his pants, and moved his hand against the bare skin underneath. Goose welts raised along his skin where X touched. Detector reach down and grabbed X’s wrist, making stern eye contact. “No.”  
“I need this.” X whispered into Detector’s ear, his words hot and moist.  
Detector found himself struggling to steady his breathing and keep from panicking. He tried to consider all possible bargaining chips he had, but found himself coming up short. “J-Jack. Jack is on his way back up from the car.”  
“I locked the door.” X replied quickly.  
Detector’s heart sank as X unbuckled his belt. “Rex--Let me go.”  
“This is the only way I know how.” X slipped his hand under the waistband of Detector’s boxer shorts and wrapped his hand around Detector’s half-flaccid penis, eliciting a groan. X released Detector’s member briefly to pull his pants down in a sharp movement. Detector winced, but did not struggle physically. He knew that X was stronger than him, and hoped that if he stayed calm the incident would culminate quicker.  
Simultaneously X ran one hand against Detector’s butt and undid his own jeans with the other, loosening his fully erect penis from the thick fabric. Detector closed his eyes, his heart pounding against his throat. On one hand he couldn’t deny that he loved X deeply, but on the other hand he could recognize that X was deliberately betraying him for the second time through his actions. He tried to relax as X massaged his anus with a lubricated finger, and struggled to forget who it was who was rubbing his inside, whose callused hand was spreading warmth and arousal through his groin through their delicate ministrations.   
X removed his finger, and pushed his penis against Detector’s loosened hole, slowly sheathing himself in the warm flesh. As Detector reached X’s hilt, the sound of the of the doorknob rattling in place echoed through the darkening apartment. Detector tensed, tears stinging his eyes. The door rattled loudly against the wooden frame. “Shhhhhhhhhhhhh,” X hissed over the noise, sliding in and out of Detector, quickening his rate. Taylor began to holler on the other side of the door, his kicks against the metal matching X’s pulsing thrusts. Detector felt a sob rip from his throat as X pulled all the way out. In the moment of hesitation X grabbed Detector by the hair and lifted his head up. Detector opened his eyes in time to feel X’s hot ejaculate spray over his face, mixing with his tears and stinging his eyes. X released Detector, and as Detector reached up and wiped the thick substance from his eyes with his bare hands, he could hear the sound of the deadbolt click, followed by the sound of water running in the kitchen.  
“What the hell is going on?” Taylor’s voice. “Where is he?”  
“In the bedroom.” X.  
Detector reached down and struggled to pull his sweat stained pants over his bruised body, falling against the bed in the process. The door opened and Taylor’s eyes met his. He could feel the anger in Taylor’s body language, and in his confused state found himself unable to determine who the anger was directed to. He shrunk away as Taylor walked towards him briskly, but Taylor’s hands were gentle as he lifted him up, and helped him correct his pants. Detector looked into Taylor’s eyes.  
“What the fuck happened here?” Taylor asked, his voice low and aggressive.  
“I don’t--” Detector tried to calm himself down, but his shoulders were shaking as tears began to pour from his eyes again.  
Taylor kissed him on the forehead gently, and smoothed his sweat-slick hair back. “Stay here.”  
Detector watched from the bed as Taylor rose and left the room, gently shutting the door behind him. He could feel the argument brewing between the two other men instinctively, even before words broke out.  
“You’ve got some nerve.” He could imagine Taylor’s face as he said this, he had seen plenty of post-race arguments to know how his lower jaw stiffened, how his eyes seemed to darken as he drew his brown down.   
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” X, trying to sound tough.  
A bang, a scuffle. By the sound, Detector judged that someone had been hit relatively hard.  
“Don’t you think you’ve done enough to him!” Taylor. Detector assumed that he had done the hitting. “That’s a man who loves you! He’s already struggling to cope with what you’ve done and then you go and--” Muffled kicking. Oh great, Detector mused, Taylor’s kicking X while he’s down. He had become famous for that precise habit during post race fights.  
Detector lifted himself of the bed and stood on unsteady feet. He waited a moment for his balance to return and his stomach to cease revolting. As soon as he felt he could, he walked slowly to the door and opened it. In the kitchenette X was laying on the linoleum, covering his head with his arms, Taylor was leaned against the dishwasher scowling. Neither had seen Detector yet.  
“You’re not even worth it.” Taylor spat onto X’s prone form. “Not worth fighting, and not worth his--” Taylor looked up at Detector, his face softened.   
Detector shook his head, “Don’t do this.” He walked to Taylor and took his arm. “Let’s just go--I need to get out of here.”  
“Come here.” Taylor pushed X across the linoleum with his foot as he pulled a damp washcloth from where it usually hung on the faucet. He rested one hand on Detector’s shoulder, and with the other began to gently clean the remaining semen and tears away from his face. He paused and lifted Detector’s hands, cleaning the final remnants of residual semen. He was about to return the washcloth to the sink, but thought better and threw it against X’s face as he had begun to loosed his arms. “You’re disgusting.” He said to X.  
Detector tugged gently on Taylor’s lapel, “Come on.”  
Taylor looked at Detector’s face and nodded, allowing Detector to lead him out of the kitchen and towards the door. Detector took one last look at X as he sat up on the floor, making direct eye contact. X’s face was still, and Detector found himself trying to be angry, but instead felt only pity. X remained emotionless as Taylor opened the door and led Detector out of the apartment.


End file.
